Lessons from a Hawke’s Bay Hustler
Earlier this week Rod was the inaugural speaker for the Hawke’s Bay Young Professional (HBYP) Speaker Series. This series aims to inspire young professionals in the Hawke’s Bay region with influential speakers sharing wisdom and leadership tips. The Hawke’s Bay Xero offices were filled with people animatedly catching up. There was a definite sense of community that gave the event a relaxed and intimate feel. Rather than a prepared speech Rod gave the floor over to the crowd and invited them to ask him questions that they actually wanted to know the answers to.
Kick off
Things kicked off with someone asking Rod why Hawke’s Bay? Well, Rod said, he’d always thought the the Hawke’s Bay people had really got the work life balance sorted. He explained that the world class beaches, recreational parks, mountain biking tracks, incredible food and wine and excellent internet access were all draw cards but there’s one thing that stood apart. Ultimately it came back to family. He said that the Hawke’s Bay creates an awesome family environment and is the perfect place to raise a family. Furthermore he said that when kids grow up they’ll eventually want to return and raise their own families.
Opportunities abound
When asked by a member of the crowd what opportunities there were in the Hawke’s Bay Rod replied that there are numerous. He noted that the region is becoming a bit of a tech hub and explained that we were currently at the epicentre of that, standing in the Tech Hub building in Ahuriri which houses a number of tech companies. He also said it was significant that Kiwibank had opened a call centre in Hastings as it had brought 80 staff up from Wellington.
Most importantly he stressed that with technology anything is possible. With technology you can build virtual teams and businesses. Physical location is no longer essential to being successful. Rod explained that local businesswoman Ailne Bradley from UShare is a perfect example of this. Hawke’s Bay based USHare is a ride sharing app that is challenging uber. Whilst Ailne is based in Hawke’s Bay she has a development team up in Auckland who are helping her to break into the industry on a national scale. The lesson from this? Working remotely is perfectly possible.
Just keep hustling
However whilst Rod is adamant you can build a business from anywhere he is equally insistent in his belief that it’s all about the hustle. He says the best thing you can do is go to conferences, evenings, meetup groups and make yourself known. He also thinks that committing a couple of days a month to explore new talent and opportunities is essential. His advice to entrepreneurs is to ask yourself where your export market is and then to hop on a plane. It doesn’t matter if your export market is in Auckland or Melbourne you’ve got to go there and make as many contacts as you can. The bottom line? Always keep hustling, it’s just what you gotta do.
Real Stories from Real Customers
A pretty magical moment occurred right in the middle of the Q and A when Melissa from The Workshop Hair Design said “I don’t have a question, I just want to say thank you”. Rod looked slightly startled and Melissa said “Well I own a hair salon and have a young baby and you know Xero means my accounting isn’t a burden anymore. She explained that she thought her accountant was doing really nice things for her and coding up all her expenses but he told her that actually it was Xero’s robots doing really cool things. “So I just want to thank you for making running my little business so much easier”. It was a very cool moment and Rod grinned and said “I’m sold!”
Think Big
Rod put his advice for entrepreneurs pretty succinctly telling them to “Think Big”.
He said the people who get ahead are the ones hungry to learn and teach themselves. For them, there are no barriers. He also said that surrounding yourself with good people was really important.
Rod explained that whilst many people buy into the intergenerational belief that the past determines your future, it’s not something he puts any stock in. He told the crowd that he was the most qualified Drury once he’d completed high school. When he puts it that way it seems hard to refute! Rod further explained that “Learning how to learn is the most important thing. And then find global opportunities”.
Lighting that ignition
When presented with the question are entrepreneurs born or made Rod said that he believes that being an entrepreneur comes from within and your own situation. He thinks that it’s the experience you end up having that drives that internal urgency. He explained that “I don’t think they’re necessarily born but entrepreneurs and leaders are made”.
For Rod it was awesome accounting and computing teachers at Napier Boys High that made all the difference. Even back then he was fired up about the idea that he could build machines to make product that would sell in his sleep. From there he had a hunger to learn. He read up on all the Silicon Valley books, IBM, Microsoft, Apple. None of that was taught. He learnt on his own and then he developed his own ideas. Essentially he believes to be an entrepreneur “you’ve gotta ignite that internal passion. And chase what you’re passionate about.”
Finally Rod brought the session to the end and with a cheeky smile he said “Go the Bay”.
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Source: Xero Blog
